Page:Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society - Volume 1.djvu/43

 rencing the books of Confucius, may fairly be considered as evidence that they carried them from China, at, or some time previous to, the period in question. The earliest traditions of every country must be listened to with distrust, unless corroborated by circumstantial proof; and the most fastidious native of Japan need not be offended with the chronology that gives to his country an antiquity of more than two thousand years.

During the succeeding dynasties of Han (B.C. 200-A.D. 220), the first of which is called Si, or western, from holding its metropolis in Shen-si, while the latter bears the opposite name of Tung, or eastern, from its court having been removed to Honan, the empire suffered several revolutions. The ambition of the rulers of the different states, as well as of the ministers of the Emperor, gave rise to various wars; and, in the last days of Han, so little was left of an empire, that the sovereigns of that period are called Choo, or Lord, instead of Hoang-ti. The Tartars, too, by their fugitive and predatory mode of warfare, were the cause of much trouble, and forced the Chinese to propitiate them with alliances and tribute. This impolitic system, which commenced so early, was in subsequent ages carried to a still greater height, and terminated, many centuries afterwards, in the overthrow of the empire, by the Mongol Tartars.

The dynasty of Han, however, is a very celebrated period in Chinese history, and learning especially is said to be under great obligations to it. At the present day, the term for a Chinese, in contradistinction to a Tartar is Han-jin, "a Man of Han." Paper and ink, instead of the awkward and cumbrous method of pricking characters on the bark of trees with a stile, are stated to have been invented during this dynasty, shortly previous to the Christian era: and it is probable that the rapid progress of Buddhism, or the religion of Fó, which was soon after introduced from India, was in some measure owing to those inventions. The leading tenets of this sect were taught in the Chinese language, while the mere sounds of the characters were used,